London is home to the largest cluster of tech businesses across EMEA, according to CBRE’s EMEA Tech Cities: Opportunities in Technology Hotspots report.
London’s top position is partly due to its ability to attract young millennial talent. Overall employment in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector has grown by 20% since 2008, with the city’s proportion of ICT employment almost two and a half times the EU average.
CBRE said that the capital also had a strong subsector mix, with no single activity dominating its employment, reflecting its position as one of the world’s leading technology centres.
Kevin McCauley, head of London research at CBRE, said: “It is no surprise that London has topped the EMEA tech ranking. London’s tech credentials enable it to outshine its peers, with both large and small tech occupiers expanding and looking to secure space in the city.”
Distinctive characteristics
The report – which aims to give occupiers and investors a framework to assess the characteristics of technology clusters in economic, leasing and employment terms at regional and city level – looks at four separate categories of technology cluster in the EMEA region (see below), each based on a city’s level, concentration and growth of tech sector employment.
London tops the scale clusters, followed by Madrid and Dublin.
Scroll down to see the full top 10 lists
In the super clusters category, locations with between 20,000 and 70,000 tech employees, Thames Valley comes out on top, followed by Zurich and the M3 corridor.
The growth clusters category, defined as locations with double-digit growth in tech employment both since 2010 and forecast over the next five years, sees Derby/Nottingham, Florence and Krakow take the top three rankings.
Strong credentials
Stephen Fleetwood, head of location analytics at CBRE, said: “These smaller clusters are perhaps the most interesting of all, as they demonstrate the footloose nature of the tech sector and the critical importance of labour and skills in the evolution of tech cities.
“Companies that drive this cluster are often not bound by legacy locations, or historical ties to cities or countries and real estate is not their primary concern, but simply an enabler.
“The question of where to find tech labour is exercising many companies at present, and this grouping includes some non-obvious but increasingly important locations with strong skills credentials.”
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Richard Holberton, CBRE’s head of EMEA occupier research, added: “Labour is not only fundamental to the success of the technology sector, it also has distinctive characteristics including a high incidence of contract employment, greater transparency of rewards and use of online channels both for job-checking and brand development.
In addition, talent perspectives are changing, with millennial workers accustomed to taking risks and often not aspiring to work for large brands. Start-ups, where they can take ownership of a product or activity, is where they turn to for advancement.
“Analysis of the characteristics of tech labour markets should be integral to location decisions, and many smaller but fast-growing cities in the EMEA region offer favourable possibilities.”
SCALE CLUSTERS
(more than 70,000 tech employees)
1. London, UK
2. Madrid, Spain
3. Dublin, Ireland
4. Budapest, Hungary
5. Paris, France
6. Copenhagen, Denmark
7. Munich, Germany
8. Milan, Italy
=10. Lyon/Grenoble, France
=10. Bucharest, Romania
SUPER CLUSTERS
(50,000-70,000 tech employees)
1. Thames Valley, UK
2. Zurich, Switzerland
3. M3 Corridor, UK
4. Prague, Czech Republic
5. Southampton, UK
6. Bristol, UK
7. Rotterdam, the Netherlands
8. Cambridge, UK
9. Cologne, Germany
10. Vienna, Austria
NORMAL CLUSTERS
(20,000-50,000 tech employees)
1. Oslo, Norway
2. Basel, Switzerland
3. Hamburg, Germany
4. Edinburgh, UK
5. Geneva, Switzerland
6. Nuremberg, Germany
7. Tallinn, Estonia
8. Utrecht, the Netherlands
9. Brno, Czech Republic
10. Brussels, Belgium
GROWTH CLUSTERS
(double-digit growth in employment since 2010)
1. Derby/Nottingham, UK
2. Florence, Italy
3. Krakow, Poland
4. Leeds, UK
5. Vigo, Spain
6. Katowice, Poland
7. Porto, Portugal
8. Poznan, Poland
9. Augsburg, Germany
10. Vilnius, Lithuania
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